The Western Region Continuums of Service Consortium (WRCOS) will honor Jessica Perone, assistant director of Washington State University’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), with its Community Engaged Professional Award during its March 26-28 conference in Seattle.
WRCOS is a coalition of organizations supporting higher education institutions in their quest to promote civic and social responsibility in the communities they serve. Its member organizations hail from Washington, California, Montana, and Hawaii.
The Community Engaged Professional Award recognizes one individual from the western region for their leadership advancing civic/community engagement on campus, addressing critical community issues and building sustainable and reciprocal partnerships, and strengthening educational equity for students through engagement initiatives.
In a congratulatory message to Perone, Elaine Ikeda, executive director of LEAD California and member of the conference planning committee wrote, “In particular, they (selection committee members) were moved by your commitment to developing high-quality community engagement experiences for students, faculty, and community members for so many years.”
Perone has worked in CCE for over eight years and leads initiatives that foster community involvement and bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world applications.
As CCE’s assistant director of engaged learning, and previously the faculty consultant, she has worked directly with faculty to incorporate service-learning into their courses.
WSU experienced a 52% increase in the number of students participating in service-learning courses, which is anticipated to be 4,700 students this year.
“This incredible increase in participation is a direct result of Jessica’s efforts to reach out and train faculty to incorporate service-learning into their curriculum,” wrote CCE Director Ben Calabretta in his award nomination. “It has led to a 65% increase in the number of service-learning courses, from 72 to 119, during her time in CCE.”
‘A champion for student success’
Samantha Swindell, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, worked with Perone to incorporate a service-learning activity for students participating in the LAUNCH Program. LAUNCH works with students to foster appreciation for, and early engagement in, experiential learning opportunities.
Perone played a critical role in implementing the service-learning requirement across seven different sections of Psychology 105, all taught by different instructors, and one section of Human Development 200. In addition to helping instructors create the module, Perone visited classes on multiple occasions to facilitate discussions about their experiences. The program resulted in more than 1,200 hours of service-learning during the 2023-2024 academic year.
“Implementing a project on this scale was a big lift, but working with Jessica made it feel both achievable and rewarding,” Swindell wrote in her nomination. “Jessica is an exceptional ambassador for community engagement and a champion for student success.”
Allison Munch-Rotolo, co-chair of the College Hill Association Board of Directors, added that Perone’s positive influence extends beyond campus to the Pullman community.
As chair of Pullman 2040, Perone led efforts to obtain grant funding to bring the Community Heart & Soul® model of community development to Pullman. The grant is being used to hire a part-time community-based project coordinator.
In another example, the City of Pullman signed an agreement with a micromobility provider expanding the use of rental e-scooters and e-bikes beyond the WSU campus perimeter. Perone explored several options for obtaining helmets and promoting their use and assembled a team of community advisors to work with Crimson Creative, a student firm (and credit-bearing course in the Murrow College of Communication), to produce messaging about the availability of free helmets.
“The importance of Jessica’s leadership is difficult to summarize in a letter and the work around micromobility safety is just a recent example that illustrates the way she will dive right in to understand a challenge and bring community wisdom together to address it,” Munch-Rotolo wrote in her nomination.
This month Perone was also named a WSU Woman of Distinction by the university’s Commission on the Status of Women.
